Pooja, Naivedyam Brief Suggestions

A respected and pious friend was discussing procedure for puja at home.

I made my suggestions on it.

Sharing for those who are interested

The procedure is nice. There is a varying perspective about archana to vishnu with Akshata. Some hold the view that akshata should not be used for vishnu archana. Of course if your ancestors practiced that then there is no problem.

If flowers are not availble manjal kumkumam can be used for ambal archana and vibhooti for shiva and subramania archana.

The shishtacharam is that tulasi should be used for naivedyam.. a leaf should be placed in every vessel containing naivedyam

But tulasi should not be used for archana of ganapthy.

In fact the rs vadhyar book is the one used by all palakkad iyers. I referred to some tamil books and even a north indian text published by geetha press.

The variations are too minor.

We can follow RS vadhyar.

Of course certain idols like lingam salagramam shankham etc have divine presence in them even without avahanam. So we have to be careful when we handle them.

Any theettu pollution or breakage can prove dangerous.

If we cannot offer cooked grain or payasam as naivedyam on a daily basis it is better not to do prana prathishta.

Avil or pori are supposed to be substitutes for rice food.

A little upastharanam with ghee is a must for all cooked naivedyams.

Fruits especially vazhappazham is good as naivedyam.

Coconut pleases ganesha

Offering tambulam to lady gods is great.

The tambulam itself is Lakshmi.